Former Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy spoke with the media for the first time as the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback coach Thursday. He was exactly who Bears fans remember when addressing his tenure in Chicago. His word salad was a reminder of how frustrating his final two seasons with the Bears were and why Bears fans should be thankful Matt Eberflus is now calling the shots inside Halas Hall.
“You have highs and lows, and you learn,” Nagy said. “You have so many hats you put on at that time. You learn a lot. You rely on those experiences that you went through. They’re real-life experiences. I didn’t have that when I went into my interview with Chicago. But I had four years’ worth of real-life experience of a lot of different situations — offense, defense, special teams. How to deal with players. How to deal with media.
“What it does is it really allows you to grow, but it puts things into perspective. In life, for me, a lot of my failures that I’ve had, I’ve tried to use to best of my ability to make me better.”
Matt Nagy went from hero to goat with Chicago Bears
Matt Nagy’s incredible debut season with Chicago in 2018 created unreasonable expectations for the first-time head coach. He led the Bears to a 12-4 record, an NFC North title, and a home playoff game. Nagy was the NFL Coach of the Year, the toast of the town. The tides turned quickly in 2019, and Nagy was ill-equipped to right the ship.
As frustrating as Nagy was at times, he did end his time in Chicago with a winning record — 34-31. He had just one losing season when he lost 11 games in 2021. But it was that losing season that exposed his shortcomings.
Nagy was a coach without answers in 2021; he ran out of clichés, and his search for ‘why’ became the butt of jokes. He directed a disorganized and ineffective offense. Simply put, he wasn’t cut out for the gig.
Now, Nagy has a chance to hit the ultimate reset button. He has the easiest quarterback coaching job in the business. Patrick Mahomes is a unicorn who doesn’t need much teaching at this point in his career. Instead, Nagy will restore his resume by being attached to a winning program and a productive offense.
At just 44 years old, Matt Nagy will probably get another chance to be a head coach, and he’ll be more equipped to handle his next gig than he was in Chicago. At least, he better hope so.
Bryan is the founder and managing editor of Bears Talk. His previous stops include Bears coverage for NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today.
